Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.5.4.4 (adenosine deaminase)
 5,136 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The long-term effort in investigating chemical methods to eliminate only cancer cells has improved our knowledge and has led to the development of new drugs. The targets for cancer treatment may be large polymeric molecules such as DNA or microtubules as well as regulatory pathways for tumor development and cell survival preservation or tyrosine kinase activity. Examples of new agents are: trastuzumab (Herceptin), a humanized monoclonal antibody that blocks the HER-2/neu proto-oncogene in combination with cytotoxic agents, is used in a percentage of breast cancer patients; signal transduction inhibitor of abl tyrosine kinase STI 571 (Glivec) has been shown to be an active treatment for chronic myeloid leukemia and GISTs; epidermal growth factor receptors in certain tumors have been targeted with agents such as C225 (Cetuximab) and ZD 1839 (IRESSA); an adenosine deaminase analogue of deoxyadenosine, Cladribine (2-chloro-2 deoxy-adenosine) has shown high effectiveness in hairy-cell leukemia and the multitargeted antifolate (Premetrexed) and several vaccines have been studied and are in clinical trials for resistant cancers. These new drug developments represent a promising field for future cancer management.
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PMID:Molecular characterization as a target for cancer therapy in relation to orphan status disorders (Review). 1237 30

Imatinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor and has rarely been reported to cause pleural effusion. We report the case of an 88-year-old male, known case of gastrointestinal stromal tumor on treatment with imatinib, who presented with a 2-week history of cough and dyspnea. He was diagnosed to have a right-sided pleural effusion and thoracentesis of the fluid revealed an exudate with low adenosine deaminase and negative cytology. Withdrawal of the drug lead to resolution of symptoms. We report this case to highlight the side effect profile of imatinib and warn physicians regarding this potential adverse effect which may be mistaken for metastasis or infection.
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PMID:Imatinib-induced pleural effusion: A case report. 2785 46